OLD SAM
by GrumpyMagrat
Summary: PreThunderbirds. The Tracy boys are visiting Grandma and Grandpa on the farm, and Virgil gets up close and personal with a certain farm animal.


Disclaimer: Again, we don't own them. We are making no money off of this. We just enjoy playing with them. We will give them back when we are done. We promise.

Setting the stage: This is a pre-Thunderbird story. The boys are young children, spending the summer on their grandparents' farm. Their ages are: Scott, 10; John, 8 ½; Virgil, almost 8; Gordon, 6; Alan, 5. (These ages were computed from the birthdays listed on "Thunderbirds: online" website.)

**OLD SAM**

**By: GrumpyMagrat and Magratconvert**

Virgil climbed down the stairs of the old farmhouse. It was 6:20 in the morning, and he headed for the kitchen where Grandma was preparing breakfast which was to be served after the morning chores. He enjoyed spending the summers at his grandparents' farm even though it meant early mornings and hard work, but there were also a lot of fun times too. They got to go swimming or fishing in the creek. Their grandfather had helped them build a tree fort to play in. But Virgil's favorite activity was the evenings spent out on the front porch. Grandma would make fresh churned ice cream and they would just sit around and talk, enjoying being together.

Grandma looked up when he entered the kitchen. "Oh good, there you are Virgil. Scott, John and your grandfather have already headed to the barn to take care of the animals. I need you to head out to the hen house and gather the eggs. You can go ahead and feed and water them too."

"Sure Grandma." Virgil answered, grabbing the egg basket as he headed out the door.

An hour later the family was gathered around the breakfast table. Grandpa Tracy was giving the boys some instructions for the day. "Ok, I'm going to a farm auction in McCracken. There is a harvester that I am interested in. I thought if Scott wanted to come…" He left the rest of the question hanging.

Scott's face beamed with excitement. He wasn't about to give up a whole day alone with Grandpa. "Sure Grandpa, I want to come."

"Then finish up your breakfast. We need to leave in about twenty minutes." Grandpa told Scott gruffly, but he winked at his wife across the table.

Grandma covered her laugh with a cough. She knew what a big marshmallow her husband was when it came to the grandsons. She looked around at these precious boys and gave a silent prayer of thanks that they were able to spend so much time with them. Her gaze stopped on her youngest grandson. He seemed to be just pushing the food around his plate. All the boys have healthy appetites so when one stops eating; it usually was a sign that something was wrong. "Alan dear, are you ok?" She asked.

Alan guiltily looked at his plate. He had hoped that no one would have noticed. He sighed. "No, my throat hurts."

Grandma went to Alan's side. She felt his forehead. "You do feel a little warm. You may be coming down with something. I want you to head back to bed. I'll bring you some tea with honey."

"You mean I don't have to go to the doctor?" Alan asked incredulously. When they were at home with their dad, he always insisted that they went to the doctor at the first sign of illness.

Grandma laughed a bit. "Why don't we give it a day or so and see how you're feeling then. If you're not better, then we can call for the doctor."

Alan nodded and headed out of the kitchen.

"Are you going to be ok with a sick child?" Grandpa asked. "I wouldn't **have** to go to the auction, or Scott could stay to help you."

"Nonsense, my dear," Grandma replied. "I really don't have much to do today. I have the second-picking of the green beans and then putting them up. Besides, I have these other boys who will help me." Turning to the three middle children, "Won't you boys?"

The three nodded their heads amid, "Yes Grandma." "Of course Grandma." "You bet."

Turning back to her husband, she said. "You two go and have a good time. We'll be fine."

An hour and a half later, Grandpa and Scott were already heading to the farm auction. John was in the house to watch over the sick Alan who had fallen asleep after drinking his tea. Grandma, Virgil and Gordon headed to the garden to pick the green beans. As they passed the chicken coop, a loud honk caught their attention.

"Ok, Sam," Grandma said as she moved to the door to the coop. She opened the door and let out Sam and Samantha, a pair of large white eben geese. Samantha headed off in her own direction to hunt for bugs and sweet plants, but not Sam. Sam, whenever he could, followed Grandma around like a faithful old dog. So as Grandma and the two boys continued on their way to the garden, Sam followed right behind.

Two hours later, they had almost finished picking three of the five rows of the beans. Gordon was whining. "Grandma, I'm hot, and I'm thirsty."

"Well, go get a drink from the thermos." She told him.

"It's empty. Virgil drank it all." Gordon replied.

"I did not!" Virgil exclaimed indignantly. "I've only gotten three drinks. You're the one who's been running back and forth. We'd be almost done if you hadn't spent so much time getting a 'drink'."

"Now boys," Grandma broke in. "You know how I feel about you bickering."

Gordon and Virgil both looked at the ground and said contritely. "Yes, Grandma."

"Ok, Gordon," Grandma continued. "You can take the thermos back to the house and refill it. You have ten minutes to be back here, so you better not goof off."

"Yes, Grandma," Gordon said as took off running.

Turning to Virgil, Grandma said. "Just so you know, I know how hard you've been working this morning. How about we make some fresh chocolate-walnut ice cream tonight?"

Virgil grinned. Grandma always knew how to make things better. "That'd be great, thanks Grandma."

The two of them worked in silence for the next few minutes. Neither were paying much attention to where Sam had wandered to until Virgil felt something bite his behind.

"OW!" He yelled and turned to see Sam standing behind him.

Grandma heard Virgil yell, and was instantly concerned. "Virgil? What happened? What's wrong?"

Virgil was rubbing his bottom. "Sam bit me on the butt."

"Virgil," Grandma said disapprovingly. "Nice language please."

"Sorry Grandma," Virgil said grumpily, "But Sam bit my 'behind'."

"Sam?" Grandma asked, addressing the gander.

Sam, who was still standing behind Virgil, was trying to look innocent. Well, as innocent as a gander could look. He had his beak pointed straight in the air, seemingly finding the clouds very interesting at the moment.

Trying to sound stern, Grandma asked. "Sam, did you bite Virgil?"

Sam continued looking to the sky, but he weaved his head back and forth as if to say, "No not me, I didn't do anything."

Grandma just shook her head, chuckling slightly at the sight. To Sam, she said. "You better behave." To Virgil, she said. "Let's get back to work. I want to finish before lunch."

Virgil gave the gander a suspicious look. Sam ignored him as he continued to study the clouds. Virgil really didn't want to turn his back on Sam but he didn't want to upset Grandma either. He didn't want to risk losing out on the chocolate-walnut ice cream. Giving Sam one more disgusted look, he bent back over and began to pick the beans again. A few minutes later, in his peripheral vision, he saw Gordon returning.

"Good," he thought. "I could use a drink right about now. He sure took…" His thoughts were interrupted when he felt another bite to his tush. "**SAM!**" He yelled.

Grandma looked up and saw Virgil rubbing his bottom again, giving Sam evil looks. Sam, on the other hand, stood about four feet behind Virgil with his beak to the ground intent on digging a bug out of the ground. He seemed to be ignoring Virgil completely.

"Virgil?" Grandma asked.

"It was him. I swear. He bit me again." Virgil said indignantly, pointing at Sam.

"Sam?" She questioned warningly. Then she noticed Gordon standing at the edge of the garden. "Did you see Sam bite Virgil?"

"No Grandma, I didn't see anything." Gordon said innocently, but the Virgil could see the glint in his eye that told Virgil that he had seen it all.

Gordon was trying not to laugh. This whole situation was too funny. He wasn't about to rat out Sam, and lose his entertainment factor.

This time Virgil gave Gordon the evil look. "Well, fine then Gordon," he said. "You can take over here, and I'll move over to the next row." He figured that at least he would be away from Sam and out of the line of fire.

Fifteen minutes later, things had settled down and the three Tracy's were picking the beans in relative silence. Virgil let his mind begin to drift. They were down to just about a row and a half left to go. They should be able to finish before lunch like Grandma wanted. After lunch Grandma would wash the beans while he, John and Gordon would snap them. If all went well, they may get a chance to take a quick swim before the evening chores. Suddenly, Virgil realized that in his musings he had lost sight of Sam. Unfortunately, his realization came a second to late as he felt Sam bite his butt again.

"Grandma!" Virgil squealed.

Gordon couldn't control himself. He bent over laughing at his brother's predicament.

Grandma looked up to see Sam running across the field from where Virgil had been working. He hid behind Grandma and poked his head out to honk at Virgil.

Grandma looked down at the gander. "You just had to push it, didn't you?" She asked Sam. "You can just leave the garden then." She told him pointing to the edge of the garden.

Sam looked up at Grandma and then to the edge of the garden where she was pointing. He looked back at her and honked at her.

"No," she told him. "I told you to behave and you didn't listen. So out you go."

Even Virgil had to chuckle at the sight of Sam walking slowly down the row of beans with his head hanging down. Every so often he would turn back and honk pleadingly at Grandma, who just shook her head at him. "No, I don't have the time to baby-sit you." Sam continued to the edge of the garden.

It took them another forty-five minutes to finish picking the beans. During that time, Sam wandered back and forth in front of the row where Grandma was. Every so often he would let out another honk, trying to plead to be let back in the garden. Grandma though just ignored him. When they finished, they gathered up the baskets of beans and headed to the house. Sam followed behind Grandma, and Virgil followed behind them. He wasn't about to let Sam get behind him again.

When they entered the kitchen, Grandma told them. "You two wash up and then Gordon can set the table while I get lunch out."

"Me?" Gordon asked. "Doesn't Virgil have to help?"

"No, I don't think so." Grandma replied. "Maybe, you'll remember this the next time I ask you a question and won't lie to me."

Gordon's mouth gaped open, but he was smart enough not to say anything. Virgil smiled though. He knew that not much escaped Grandma's attention. She just usually waited until the "right" time to drop her observations.

When John and Alan entered the kitchen, Gordon was busy setting out the plates while Virgil sat in a chair. He was confused about why Virgil wasn't helping. Maybe he could find out subtly.

"How's it going guys?" John asked.

Gordon popped up with an answer first. "Virgil and Sam were having a good time in the garden. Weren't you Virg.?" He asked cheekily.

Virgil glared at Gordon. "Stupid animal. If I had my way, he would be one dead goose."

"He's a gander Virgil. Male geese are ganders." Gordon said smugly.

"Shut up Gordon." Virgil said disgustedly.

Alan watched the exchange between his two brothers. "So what did happen Virg.?" He asked.

"Sam bit me on the bu…bottom, three times." Virgil said, remembering to use "nice language" around Grandma.

John tried to cover the smirk on his face with his hand, but Virgil could still hear the snickers from his older brother.

"It's not funny!" Virgil exclaimed indignantly. "It hurt!"

John and Gordon dissolved into laughter. Alan though was confused. "What's so funny?" He asked.

"Don't you get it?" Gordon asked him. "Virgil was GOOSED BY A GOOSE!"

It took a moment for the statement to sink into Alan's brain. He joined in the laughter with his brothers.

Virgil looked at his three laughing brothers. He tried to fight against his own laughter. He looked at Gordon and said. "Sam's a gander, Gordy."

The four Tracy boys all dissolved into fits of laughter.

* * *

Author's note: Ok, this idea popped up at us one evening when we were reminiscing about the days when Mom/Grandma had the farm. This is based on a true incident. Playing the part of poor Virgil was Grumpy's sister. Playing the part of Gordon was Grumpy. Playing the part of Grandma was Mom/Grandma. Playing the lead part of Sam was Sam. If you enjoyed this story please review. 


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